Hello and thanks for checking in!
Lots to report including some upcoming live performances.
SONIC SILENTS FILM FESTIVAL is about to kickoff: September 17th-20th at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre. I’ve curated three nights (+ a matinee) of live music with both rare and canonical silent films, and the festival will see the premiere of more than a dozen scores. It’s an event built around newly created scores, performed live with picture, by the people who wrote them. It includes a fantastic collection of some of the best composers and improvisers on the planet including Carla Kihlstedt, Jenny Scheinman, Steve Berlin, Scott Amendola, Todd Sickafoose, Andy Borger, Jenny Conlee, Rachel Blumberg, Courtney Von Drehle, Blue Cranes, Jennifer Wright, Paul Brainard, and Mike Gamble among many others.
SONIC SILENTS features three different programs, each with multiple shorts and a feature:
Night One: Snatched From Dark Powers: German Expressionist Masterpieces / feat. “The Golem” dir, Wegener (1915) – with short films by Richter and Ruttmann.
Night Two: Surreal Paris & The Insectarium: Groundbreaking films by Starewicz, Buñuel, Méliès, and Guy.
Night Three (+ Sunday matinee): Keaton at 100 – A Shared Centennial: The 100th anniversary screening of Buster Keaton’s all-time classic, “The General.” It’s centennial lines up with The Hollywood Theatre’s – it’s a perfect place to revisit the film Orson Welles called “the greatest comedy of all time, the greatest civil war film of all time, and perhaps the greatest film of all time.”
More information including tickets and details of who’s playing what-when can be found here: https://hollywoodtheatre.org/series/sonic-silents/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MISS YOU, LOVE YOU is the new feature from Oscar winning writer/director Jim Rash. It stars an always brilliant Allison Janney with Andrew Rannells and is streaming on HBO. It’s been nominated for an Emmy for “Outstanding TV Movie.” The score is both intimate and edgy (reflecting the setting and characters), drawn from guitar and strings with doses of prepared piano and prepared cimbalom filling out the palette.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABRIL is the new feature film written and directed by Hernán Jiménez. It’s our fourth project together and it’s a fantastic film with a star-making turn from Maricarmen Merino who plays the title character, along with great performances from Jiménez, Lara Mora, and François Arnaud (sans ice-skates, in a break from “Heated Rivalry”). It’s been on a great festival run and will open internationally on September 10th. Check back for U.S. dates!
Pacific-Northwesterners: Mark Hoffman’s A SIMPLE MACHINE and Beth Harrington’s OUR MR. MATSURA have been winning awards at festivals around the U.S., and both films have upcoming screenings in and around the Portland area. Check listings for details.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now streaming on Netflix:
Jacob Elordi – dons tighty-whities, loses Frankenstein makeup!
Sony Pictures Classics’ ON SWIFT HORSES stars Daisy Edgar Jones and Jacob Elordi with Will Poulter, Sasha Calle, and Diego Calva. Set in the 1950’s, the story revolves around two brothers – Lee and Julius (Poulter and Elordi) – and the new lives they’re trying to build after returning from the Korean War. Lee’s engaged to Muriel (Jones) who from their first meeting feels an instant connection with her soon to be brother-in-law. The film has the feel of a classic Hollywood romantic drama, and is a study of both the nature of desire and of the secret lives many were forced to live during the post-war era.
“On Swift Horses is about the shapes love can take, the varied lives we live and the many different ways one can make a home. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking and demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.” ~ The Hollywood Reporter
The original soundtrack is available on Sony’s Madison Gate imprint and is available anywhere and everywhere. Here’s a link to the usual streaming suspects:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~